Gordon Astall

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Gordon Astall
Personal information
Full name Gordon Astall[1]
Date of birth (1927-09-22)22 September 1927[1]
Place of birth Horwich, England
Date of death 21 October 2020(2020-10-21) (aged 93)
Place of death Ipplepen, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Outside right
Youth career
Royal Marines
Southampton
Bolton Wanderers (trial)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1947–1953 Plymouth Argyle 188 (42)
1953–1961 Birmingham City 235 (60)
1961–1963 Torquay United 33 (10)
Total 456 (112)
International career
1952 England B 1 (0)
1956 England 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gordon Astall (22 September 1927 – 21 October 2020) was an English professional footballer. He played as an outside right, and represented the Football League, the England B team and the full England side. At club level he made 456 appearances in the Football League and scored 112 goals.

Life and career[edit]

Astall was born in Horwich, near Bolton, in Lancashire.[1] He was playing amateur football for Southampton when he signed professional with Plymouth Argyle in November 1947.[3] He had previously been an unsuccessful triallist at his local side Bolton Wanderers.[2] His league debut came in February 1948 at home to Luton Town, and he soon became a regular in the Home Park side, helping Plymouth win the Third Division South title in 1952.[3] Due to his speed down the wing the crowd christened him Flash Astall.[4] That same year he was selected for the England B team.[5] In October 1953 he was signed by Second Division rivals Birmingham City for a fee of £14,000, following his Plymouth wing colleague Alex Govan to St Andrew's. He had made 194 appearances for Plymouth and scored 43 goals.[3][6]

As a goalscoring outside right, Astall replaced the Scot Jackie Stewart in the Birmingham side and quickly became an important member of a team that won the Second Division title in 1955 and reached the 1956 FA Cup final, losing 3–1 at Wembley to Manchester City.[7] Full international recognition followed and he scored on his debut for England against Finland on 20 May 1956. He played again six days later in a 3–1 victory against West Germany, but this proved to be his final international appearance.[2] He also took part in Birmingham's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaigns, playing in the 1960 final which the team lost 4–1 on aggregate to Barcelona.[8] At the end of the 1960–61 season, after 271 appearances for Birmingham in which he scored 67 goals, he moved to Torquay United on a free transfer.[2]

Astall made his Gulls debut on 19 August 1961, featuring in a 2–1 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, and went on to score 10 goals in 27 league games in a season that saw Torquay relegated back to the Fourth Division thanks to a 4–2 final-day defeat away to Barnsley, Astall scoring one of Torquay's goals.[9] He played only six times the following season before retiring from the professional game.[6]

Astall settled in the Torbay area, working in insurance and coaching local club Upton Vale.[6] In May 2000, the Torquay Herald Express reported that he was living in retirement in the town and was a keen golfer.[10]

In later life, Astall was diagnosed with dementia.[11] He died at a care home at Ipplepen, Devon, on 21 October 2020 at the age of 93.[2] He was at the time the oldest living England international.[12]

Career statistics[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Plymouth Argyle[3] 1947–48 Second Division 14 1 0 0 — — 14 1
1948–49 Second Division 36 5 1 0 — — 37 5
1949–50 Second Division 11 0 0 0 — — 11 0
1950–51 Third Division South 30 7 1 0 — — 31 7
1951–52 Third Division South 45 18 1 0 — — 46 18
1952–53 Third Division South 39 10 3 1 — — 42 11
1953–54 Third Division South 13 1 — — — 13 1
Total 188 42 6 1 — — 194 43
Birmingham City[13] 1953–54 Second Division 24 6 2 0 — — 26 6
1954–55 Second Division 33 11 4 0 — — 37 11
1955–56 First Division 39 12 6 3 — 0 0 45 15
1956–57 First Division 40 11 6 2 — 1[a] 0 47 13
1957–58 First Division 37 5 1 0 — 3[a] 0 41 5
1957–58 First Division 26 8 5 1 — 1[a] 0 32 9
1957–58 First Division 19 4 1 0 — 2[a] 0 22 4
1957–58 First Division 17 3 2 0 1 0 1[a] 1 21 4
Total 235 60 27 6 1 0 8 1 271 67
Torquay United[14] 1961–62 Third Division 27 10 0 0 1 0 — 28 10
1962–63 Fourth Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 0
Total 33 10 0 0 1 0 — 33 10
Career total 456 112 33 87 2 9 8 1 498 120
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in Inter-Cities Fairs Cup

Honours[edit]

Plymouth Argyle

Birmingham City

Sources[edit]

  • Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-010-2.
  • Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: Derby Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Gordon Astall". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Gordon Astall". England Football Online. Chris Goodwin & Glen Isherwood. 8 August 2022. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Alex Govan". Greens on Screen. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  4. ^ Cole, Daniel (22 October 2020). "Gordon Astall R.I.P". Plymouth Argyle F.C. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  5. ^ Courtney, Barrie (22 May 2014). "England – International Results B-Team – Details". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Matthews (1995), p. 69.
  7. ^ Matthews (2010), pp. 342–347.
  8. ^ Ross, James M. (4 June 2015). "European Competitions 1959–60". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  9. ^ Edwards, Leigh (March 1997). The definitive Torquay United F.C. Nottingham: Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-09-9.
  10. ^ "In an age when pampered soccer players earn £50,000 a week, and sometimes have to be treated for stress with the worry of it all, it is salutary to look back on some of the giants of the past and their rewards". Herald Express. Torquay. 23 May 2000. p. 8.
  11. ^ "Football Remembers: Gordon Astall's story". Premier League. 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  12. ^ "England's Gordon Astall, who was our oldest international, has sadly passed away". The Football Association. 22 October 2020. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  13. ^ Matthews (2010), pp. 342–359, 473.
  14. ^ "Astall, G (Gordon)". English National Football Archive (ENFA). Retrieved 7 April 2024.

External links[edit]

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